The 34th Battalion, Virginia Volunteer Cavalry was a cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

 raised in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 for service in the Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. It fought in western Virginia, East Tennessee, with the Army of Northern Virginia

Army of Northern Virginia

The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...

and the Shenandoah Valley.

Virginia's 34th Cavalry Battalion, formerly the 1st Battalion Virginia Mounted Rifles, was organized in December, 1862. The unit served in A.G. Jenkins', W.E. Jones', V.A. Witcher's, and B.T. Johnson's Brigade and first engaged the Federals in western Virginia. It had a force of 172 men at Gettysburg, returned to western Virginia, then was involved in operations in East Tennessee. During April, 1864, it contained 222 effectives, saw action at Piedmont, and served with Early in the Shenandoah Valley. The 34th disbanded at Lynchburg in April, 1865. Lieutenant Colonel Vinson A. Witcher, and Majors John A. McFarlane and William Straton were in command.